Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.

Freixenet, an Spanish cava wine producer jointly owned by the Ferrer family and Germany’s Henkell Group, has announced an employment redundancy file (ERE) that could affect up to 180 employees—approximately 24% of its Spanish workforce.
The company attributes this decision to an “unprecedented crisis” in the cava sector, driven primarily by several consecutive years of severe drought in Catalonia. Freixenet cites a notable decline in production, reduced stock levels, and soaring raw material costs, which have disrupted the balance between market demand and operational sustainability, and Freixenet underlines the need for structural reorganisation to ensure long-term viability, pledging to manage the process with sensitivity.
The ERE will primarily impact the Freixenet and Segura Viudas divisions, while the commercial branch will remain unaffected. Meanwhile, the broader cava sector has also suffered a 13.4% drop in volume sales in 2024, particularly in key export markets such as Germany
Eurofound (2025), Freixenet, Internal restructuring in Spain, factsheet number 202662, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/202662.